Swimming pool cleaner head



c. JACUZZI 3,085,267

April 16, 1963 SWIMMING POOL CLEANER HEAD Filed Aug. 24, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR. 42 CAND/DO JA cuzz/ Z b1/r Zu4 ATTORNEYS April 16, 1963 c. JACUZZI 3,08

I SWIMMING POOL CLEANER HEAD Filed Aug. 24, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5O INVENTOR. CAND/DO JA CUZZ/ ATTORNEYS April 16, 1963 c. JACUZZI SWIMMING POOL CLEANER HEAD 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24, 1960 INYENTOR.

-"JACUZZ/ CAND/DQ 17 TO/PNE rs United States Patent 3,085,267 SWG POOL CLEANER HEAD Candido Jacuzzi, Lafayette, Califi, assiguor to Jacuzzi Bros, lnc., Richmond, Calif. Filed Aug. 24, 1960, Ser. No. 51,556 9 Claims. (ill. ll.7)

This invention relates to swimming pool cleaning equipment and more particularly to an improved swimming pool cleaner head.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide an improved head for swimming pool cleaners whereby the cleaner may be used efliciently on surfaces of changing curvature, thus increasing the efliciency of the head in cleaning the curved surfaces of a swimming pool.

It is another object of this invention to provide such an improved head which may be manipulated etliciently while it is attached to the end of a very long handle.

It is another object of the invention to provide such an improved head which is'particularly useful in swimming pool equipment of the vacuum cleaner type.

It is another object of this invention to provide such an improved cleaner head having an elongated body with an elongated cleaning mouth where the body is flexible along its length.

i It is another specific object of the invention to provide such an elongated cleaning head which will, by its own weight, conform to the surface on which it is used.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such an improved cleaning head having a flexible lip around the mouth thereof adapted to engage the surface to be cleaned by the head.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such an improved head made of a plurality of juxtaposed sections pivotally connected together to impart suflicie'nt flexibility to the head to permit the use of the had on surfaces of changing curvature with the sections defining a cavity from which fluid can be exhausted to eilect vacuum cleaning action by the head.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such an improved sectional head having junction areas between its adjacent sections which will permit substantial flexure of the head while preventing fluid flow into the cavity between the sections.

It is another object of the invention to provide such an improved sectional head carrying resilient means for causing the head to adapt its shape to the shape of the surface on which it is used.

It is a specific object of the invention to provide such an improved head in which the weight of the head when immersed in water is balanced with the resiliency of the resilient means so that the mouth of the head will automatically conform to the shape of the surface on which it is used without the application of external forces to the head.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide such an improved head in which the flexible lip around the mouth thereof can serve as such resilient means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the attached drawings in which;

FIG. 1 is a view in rear elevation of a preferred form of swimming pool cleaner head constructed in accordance with this-invention in which the head is illustrated in its position of use on a flat surface;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the head thereof in its position of use on a concave surface;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the head thereof in its normal position unsupported on any surface;

FIG. 4 is a plan View of the head of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view in side elevation ice 2 of a portion of the head of FIG. 1 illustrating a joint in said head;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the joint of FIG. 5 in the position it assumes in the structural orientation of FIG. =2;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIGS. 5 and 6 showing the joint thereof in the position it assumes in the structural orientation of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the plane and in the direction indicated by the line and the arrows at 8-8 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane and in the direction indicated by the line and the arrows at 99 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the joint illustrated in FIGS. 57;

FIG. 11 is a view in rear elevation similar to FIG. 1 showing an alternative form of cleaning head constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a portion of the head of FIG. 11, and

FIG. 13 is a view in end elevation of the head of FIGS. 11 and 12.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. l-lO, the improved head illustrated therein comprises a central body section 20 which is U-shaped in cross-section (see FIG. 9) defining in part a cavity 22 on the inside thereof. A conduit 24 extends through the top wall of the section 20 communicating with the cavity 22. The conduit 24 may be connected by a flexible hose 26 to the vacuum intake port of conventional swimming pool filtering equipment.

An ear 28 is provided on the section 20 to which a long manipulating handle 30 is attached by wing nut 32.

The body section 20 forms the body of the improved head together with an inner pair of head sections 34 and an outer pair of head sections 36. The sections 34 are pivotally connected at their inner ends to the opposite ends of the section 20 at joints 38, and the sections 36 are pivotally connected at their inner ends to the outer ends of the sections 34 at joints 40. The sections 34 and 36 are generally U-shaped in cross-section defining therein the remainder of the cavity 22; the outer ends of the sections 36 are closed, as at 42.

The joints 38 and 4d are substantially the same, the joints 40 being illustrated in detail in FIGS. 5 to 7 and 10. At the joints 40, the sections 36 are telescopically engaged in the sections 34, with the side walls of the sections 34 being reduced in thickness on the inside thereof at 44 and with the side walls of the sections 36 being reduced in thickness on the outside thereof as at 4.6. The side walls of the sections are pivotally connected together by rivets 48 adjacent to the edge portions 50 of the sections. The areas 44 and 46 are reduced in thickness sufliciently that their combined thickness is approXi mately the same as the remainder of the side walls of the sections (see FIG. 8).

The top walls of the sections 34 and 36 are curved along a cylindrical are 52 about the axis of the rivets 43 thereby permit-ting relative pivotal movement of the sections 34 and 36 while preventing the entry of fluid to the cavity 22 between the sections 34 and 36. The junction 54 between the are 52 and the flat top wall of the section 36 provides a stop limiting clockwise pivotal movement of vthe section 36 with respect to the section 34. And an upturned car 56 is provided on the section 36 inside the section 34 to limit relative pivotal movement in the other direction.

The edge portions 50 of the sections 20, 34 and 36 define the mouth of the improved cleaning head and a continuous rubber lip 58 is mounted on the edge portions 50 surrounding the mouth of the head.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the lip 58 is provided with a channel in the top thereof for receipt of the edge portions 50 of the sections 20, 34, and 36', and the lip 58 isprovided with a-small laterally extending blade 6t? thereonto insure good Contact between the lip. and the surface across which the head is moved.

The lip 58 is preferably slightly smaller, in its relaxed condition, than the circumference of the mouth of the head, whereby the lip 53 is maintained under slight tension when in place on theedge portions 50. Such tension resiliently biasesxthe body sections. toward the body shape illustrated in FIG. 3. The body sections 21 34, and 3-5 are preferably made of metal stampings with sufficient weight with respect to the resiliency of the lip 5 that when the head, while immersed in water, is resting on flat and concave surfaces, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the weight of the sections will cause the mouth of the head to conform to the shape of the surface.

Referring now in detail to FIGS. 11 to 13, the alternative form of the invention illustrated therein diiiers from the form shown in FIGS. 1-10 in that the body sections 2%, 34' and 36 are pivotally connected together adjacent to their tops by means of pivot pins, 62, and the side walls of the body sections are not relieved in thickness to permit equal wall thickness where the wall sections do and do not overlap. Instead, the sections 20', 34' and 36 are merely telescopically received together with short rubber lip segments 64 carried on the edges portions of each body section. Since, in the structure of FIGS. 11- 13, the continuity of the rubber lip is lost, it is desirable to provide a tension spring 66 (FIG. 11) carried between studs 63 on the end walls of the outer body sections 36'. The tension spring 66 resiliently urges the mouth of the head to assume a concave position.

While two suitable structures for employing the principles of the invention have been illustrated herein, it is obvious that many changes may be made in addition, subtraction and orientation of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is claimed:

1. A swimming pool cleaner head comprising a body defining a cavity in one side thereof, said body being formed of a plurality of sections, including a central section and at least a pair of outer end sections, juxtaposed sequentially along one dimension of said body, edge portions on each of said sections defining a mouth for said cavity, means pivotally connecting said sections together about axes generally parallel to said mouth, conduit means for exhausting fluid from said cavity, said body being formed to permit said edge portions to assume coplanar, concaveand convex conditions, and resilient means carried by said body and interconnecting said pair of outer end sections for urging the sections disposed outwardly of said central section to pivot about said axes to a position where said edge portions assume a concave condition.

2. The swimming pool cleaner head of claim 1 in which the weight and density of said body are sufiiciently great with respect to the resiliency of said resilient means that the mouth of said body will assume a planar condition when said body is immersed in Water with said mouth freely supported by a fiat pool bottom surface.

3. A swimming pool cleaner head comprising an elongated body defining an elongated cavity in one side there of, said body being formed of a plurality of sections, including a central section and sections disposed outwardly therefrom, constructed of a generally rigid material and juxtaposed along the length of said body, edge portions on said sections defining a mouth for said cavity, means pivotally connecting said sections together about axes generally perpendicular to the length of said body mouth, said lip being operable to urge said outwardly disposed sections to pivot around said axes to a position where said mouth is concave.

4. The swimming pool cleaner head of claim 1 in which said axes lie on the sides of said sections remote from said edge portions.

5. The swimming pool cleaner head of claim 4, said resilient means interconnecting said pairof outer end sections being disposed between said axes and said edge portions.

6. A swimming pool cleaner head comprising an elongated body defining an elongated cavity in one side thereof, said body being formed of a plurality of sections, including a central section and sections disposed outwardly therefrom, constructed of. a generally rigid material and juxtaposed along the length of said body, edge portions on said sections defining a mouth for said cavity, means pivotally connecting said sections together about axes generally perpendicular to the length. of said body and parallel to said mouth, said axes being located at the sides of said sections adjacent to said edge portions, resilient means on said edge portions comprising a continuous resilient lip extending around the mouth of said body and urging said sections to pivot around said axes to a position where said mouth is concave, and conduit means for exhausting fluid from said cavity.

7. The swimming pool cleaner head of claim 6 in which the walls of the edge portions of said sections have portions overlapping in the areas of said axes, said means pivotally connecting said sections together comprising pivot pins disposed in said areas and pivotally connecting together said overlapping'section wall portions, and said overlapping section wall portions being reduced in thickness relative to the walls in the remainder of the areas of the edge portions of said sections, whereby the thickness of the edge portions of said sections is substantially uniform around said body.

8. A swimming pool cleaner head comprising an elongated body defining an elongated cavity in one side thereof, said body beingformed of a plurality of sections, including a central section and sections disposed outwardly therefrom, constructed. of a generally rigid material and juxtaposed along the length of said body, edge portions on said sections defining a. mouth for said cavity, means pivotally connecting said sections together about axes generally perpendicular to the length of said body and parallel to said mouth, said axes being located at the sides of said sections adjacent to said edge portions, the sides of said sections remote from said edge portions having their adjacent ends overlapped, the overlapped adjacent ends of any two of said sections each describing circular arcs about said axes, whereby said body encloses said cavity regardless of the relative pivotal positions of said sections.

9. The swimming pool cleaner head of claim 8 in which the adjacent ends of the sides of said sections remote from said edge portions are provided with complemental two way stop means operable to limit. relative pivotal movement between adjacent sections in both directions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 715,408 Murray et a1. Dec. 9, 1902 750,852 Hart Feb. 2, 1904 982,640 Spencer Jan. 24, 1911 1,229,737 Furnas June 12, 1917 2,815,525 Lofgren Dec. 10, 1957 2,859,466 Sanden et a1. Nov. 11, 1958 

1. A SWIMMING POOL CLEANER HEAD COMPRISING A BODY DEFINING A CAVITY IN ONE SIDE THEREOF, SAID BODY BEING FORMED OF A PLURALITY OF SECTIONS, INCLUDING A CENTRAL SECTION AND AT LEAST A PAIR OF OUTER END SECTIONS, JUXTAPOSED SEQUENTIALLY ALONG ONE DIMENSION OF SAID BODY, EDGE PORTIONS ON EACH OF SAID SECTIONS DEFINING A MOUTH FOR SAID CAVITY, MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING SAID SECTIONS TOGETHER ABOUT AXES GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID MOUTH, CONDUIT MEANS FOR EXHAUSTING FLUID FROM SAID CAVITY, SAID BODY BEING FORMED TO PERMIT SAID EDGE PORTIONS TO ASSUME COPLANAR, CONCAVE AND CONVEX CONDITIONS, AND RESILIENT MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BODY AND INTERCONNECTING SAID PAIR OF OUTER END SECTIONS FOR URGING THE SECTIONS DISPOSED OUTWARDLY OF SAID CENTRAL SECTION TO PIVOT ABOUT SAID AXES TO A POSITION WHERE SAID EDGE PORTIONS ASSUME A CONCAVE CONDITION. 